Cases in Places

Filter Cases in Places By:

Government Communications Structures: Centralized, De-centralized, Hybrid

  • Strategy

Share This

Print Page

Federal or central governments worldwide struggle with communications structure, particularly after leadership transitions. However, at some point, each government identifies a way to handle communication priorities, messages, and outreach more systematically.

Regardless of the model, regular weekly meetings should discuss the week’s themes and messages and plot the major stories on a calendar among the communications leadership of the President, Prime Minister, and Ministry. This helps avoid multiple significant announcements on the same day and builds and increases professional norms, shared knowledge, and joint coordination.

  • There was a weekly cabinet meeting in pre-war Ukraine where issues were shared and finalized in front of the media.  Communicators were expected to have materials ready and approved when their issue was on the agenda.
  • US department communications staff put together communication memos, strategies, and plans on paper, which are shared with key government stakeholders.  If this is an important issue, the communications plans are also discussed and vetted by the President’s communications staff.  The US has many communications, websites, and digital assets directives.  Many of them can be found on digital.gov.  This guidance, and in some cases, laws, takes the guesswork out of many communication decisions.
  • In Montenegro, a General Secretariat of the Government under the PM provides direction and procedures to the ministry communicators, who meet weekly. 
  • The Canadian Communications Community office participates in meetings with the Privy Council Office and Director Generals for Communications to review strategies on initiatives, plans, and priorities.

Finding a working model requires discussing what is working now and what needs to be changed.  Here is a breakdown of different models of government communication for consideration:

 Centralized  De-Centralized  Hybrid or Cascading  
 Often easiest for single-party rule or smaller governments where coordination and oversite are easy to implement.Countries with coalition governments/multiple party Ministers are given autonomy on communications, but not policy. This is also found in governments with a high level of trust in Ministers.  There are formal guidance and rules related to communications, but PMs and Ministers have the freedom to decide on communications within their institution.  
Decision-makerPM office or Party office structure approves or handles all implementation.Ministries have freedom of communication after policy agreement.PM’s office involved in major communication direction, and overall guidance. Ministers are empowered to implement within that guidance.  
Strategies/PlansStrategies, messages and content are driven or approved by the PM or Party office.Ministers make decisions on communication plans.PM office reviews or approves major comm plans for key policies, and otherwise allows freedom to act.  
BenefitsEliminates communication problems. “One Voice” for government is clear.  Allows Ministers freedom since they understand issues and audiences better.Requires Ministries to review and consult on major plans.  
RisksTakes time, and puts the burden on PM office to do work of communications. This slows down of the communications work of Ministries, and is often perceived to be authoritarian.Multiple voices instead of “One Voice” across government. This often means competition for media attention among Ministers. There are more likely to be mistakes or inter-Ministry fights on cross-cutting issues in public.  Balances risks of the workload with the benefits of consultation and problem solving. Process sometimes leads to confusion unless it is strictly followed or enforced.
ImplementationMany more communications staff and systems for decision-making at the PM offices.More experienced communication strategists at the Ministry level to protect against risks.More parameters for communications staff and collaboration for major or difficult issues between PM and Ministries on plans.  
How this works in practice  PM communicators responsible for media materials, comment. Provides direction to the Minister.Minister’s office drives the communications effort and is responsible for media, materials, comment.Minister’s office submits a communications plan to the PM’s office, and once approved handles the media, materials, comment.

More often than not, the centralized system is seen as autocratic and slow. The de-centralized version is often the most common, but this sometimes brings challenges with multiple voices and inconsistency among offices that prioritize public relations and those that do not. The hybrid or cascading system works well in most countries.  Major issues require a plan with input from cross-cutting institutions, but minor issues and implementation are left to the Ministry’s discretion.

Government Communications Structures: Centralized, De-centralized, Hybrid

Federal or central governments worldwide struggle with communications structure, particularly after leadership transitions. However, at some point, each government identifies a way to handle communication priorities, messages, and outreach more systematically.

Regardless of the model, regular weekly meetings should discuss the week’s themes and messages and plot the major stories on a calendar. This helps avoid multiple significant announcements on the same day and builds an understanding of professional norms, shared knowledge, and joint coordination.

  • There was a weekly cabinet meeting in pre-war Ukraine where issues were shared and finalized in front of the media.  Communicators were expected to have materials ready and approved when their issue was on the agenda.
  • US department communications staff put together communication memos, strategies, and plans on paper, which are shared with key government stakeholders.  If this is an important issue, the communications plans are also discussed and vetted by the President’s communications staff.  The US has many communications, websites, and digital assets directives.  Many of them can be found on digital.gov.  This guidance, and in some cases, laws, takes the guesswork out of many communication decisions.
  • In Montenegro, a General Secretariat of the Government under the PM provides direction and procedures to the ministry communicators, who meet weekly. 
  • The Canadian Communications Community office participates in meetings with the Privy Council Office and Director Generals for Communications to review strategies on initiatives, plans, and priorities.

Finding a working model requires discussing what is working now and what needs to be changed.  Here is a breakdown of different models of government communication for consideration:

 Centralized  De-Centralized  Hybrid or Cascading  
 Often easiest for single-party rule or smaller governments where coordination and oversite are easy to implement.Countries with coalition governments/multiple party Ministers are given autonomy on communications but not policy. This is also found in governments with high trust in Ministers.  There are formal guidance and rules related to communications, but PMs and Ministers can decide on communications within their institution.  
Decision-makerPM office or Party office structure approves or handles all implementation.Ministries have freedom of communication after policy agreement.PM’s office is involved in major communication direction and overall guidance. Ministers are empowered to implement that guidance.  
Strategies/PlansStrategies, messages, and content are driven or approved by the PM or Party office.Ministers make decisions on communication plans.PM office reviews or approves major comm plans for key policies and allows freedom to act otherwise.  
BenefitsEliminates communication problems. “One Voice” for government is clear.  It allows Minister freedom since they understand issues and audiences better.Requires Ministries to review and consult on major plans.  
RisksIt takes time and puts the burden on the PM office to do the work of communications. This slows down the communications work of Ministries and is often perceived to be authoritarian.Multiple voices instead of “One Voice” across government. This often means competition for media attention among Ministers. There are more likely to be mistakes or inter-Ministry fights on cross-cutting issues in public.  Balances risks of the workload with the benefits of consultation and problem-solving. The process sometimes leads to confusion unless it is strictly followed or enforced.
ImplementationMany more communications staff and systems for decision-making at the PM offices.More experienced communication strategists at the Ministry level to protect against risks.More parameters for communications staff and collaboration for major or difficult issues between PM and Ministries on plans.  
How this works in practice  PM communicators are responsible for media, materials, and comments. Provides direction to the Minister.Minister’s office drives the communications effort and is responsible for media, materials, and comments.Minister’s office submits a communications plan to the PM’s office and, once approved, handles the media, materials, and comments.
The table on centralized, decentralized and hybrid models

More often than not, the centralized system is seen as autocratic and slow. The de-centralized version is often the most common, but this sometimes brings challenges with multiple voices and inconsistency among offices that prioritize public relations and those that do not. The hybrid or cascading system works well in most countries.  Major issues require a plan with input from cross-cutting institutions, but minor issues and implementation are left to the Ministry’s discretion.